About 30 children were buried by a landslide that hit a Malaysian orphanage and two bodies have been recovered so far, police said today.

A district police officer said firefighters and villagers pulled out six children who were critically injured and they were rushed to a hospital. The incident happened close to the capital, Kuala Lumpur.

The officer declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

The officer said heavy rainfall had likely caused the landslide that hit the orphanage in central Selangor state this afternoon.

He said rain was still falling and hampering rescue work, which would last until nightfall.

A rescuer uses a construction machine to search for the bodies believed to be buried by the landslide which engulfed an orphanage in Hulu Langat in central Selangor state, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Rescuers pause to inspect the building before they carry on. The orphanage house was half buried by the landslide

The red earth of the mountain can be seen after the landslide. A police officer said heavy rainfall is believed to have loosened the earth causing it to happen

Alive but injured, this orphan is carried away from the scene of the disaster

Terrible news: A woman holds her hand to her mouth as she talks on a mobile phone at the site of landslide